Romans 1:26-32 New Living Translation (NLT)
26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.
Friday, 19 June 2020
'Only' Black Lives Matter
Sunday, 7 June 2020
Evangelizing Children
A GRACE COMMUNITY CHURCH DISTINCTIVE
For many believers, fulfilling Christ’s command to make disciples of all nations begins at home—with their children. In fact, few experiences bring greater joy to Christian parents than seeing their children come to faith in Christ.
The process of evangelizing one’s children, however, can be a daunting task. For many parents, the questions are as practical as they are disconcerting: How should I present the gospel to my children? What’s the best approach to take? How do I know if I’m doing it right? Pitfalls, both real and imagined, intimidate virtually every parent who contemplates this responsibility. On one hand, there’s the danger of leading children to think they are saved when they are not. On the other, there’s the risk of discouraging children who express a genuine desire to follow Christ.
How, then, should we evangelize our children? The answer to this question is not an easy one, but it begins with recognizing and avoiding some of the common pitfalls in child evangelism.
Tuesday, 19 May 2020
Tuesday, 28 April 2020
When Husband and Wife Unite
As I read through his discussion of the mutual duties of husbands and wives in marriage, I was struck by the beauty and simplicity of his directions: “Direct. IV. Husband and wife must take DELIGHT in the love, and company and conversation of each other.” (emphasis mine) The keyword here my brothers and sisters is “Delight” Baxter says that one of our duties to our spouse in marriage is make it our ambition to enjoy our spouses affection, friendship, and conversation. That means this advice is not a suggestion.
The aim is that by labouring to find pleasure in our spouse, we would find life-long pleasure in marriage before the Lord. So, what if I want to do this but it feels impossible or like it won’t be worth it!? Baxter is extremely practical. He starts by discussing the reasons why delighting in each other is so wise:
(Without quoting the old English exactly)
When husbands and wives strive to take pleasure in each other…
Wednesday, 1 April 2020
Masturbation and the Christian
Solo Sex Doesn't Fit The Biblical Pattern
God designed sexuality to be like every other aspect of the Christian life: turning away from selfish desires to honor God with my body and use it to serve another. Sex in marriage should reflect the New Testament ethic in general. Describing discipleship, Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45 ESV). Much more than a proof text for the atonement, this is the culmination of Jesus’ teaching on what it means to follow Him.
Multiple passages proclaim the Christian life is freedom from living for self. We live foremost for Christ and secondarily to love and bless others (see Gal. 2:20; 2 Cor. 5:14–15; Phil. 2:3–4; 1 Pet. 4:1–5). Jesus promises only when we live according to this pattern do we truly find life. (All four Gospels include this teaching. See Matt. 10:39; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24; and John 12:25.) Living for “self” guarantees that true life and peace will elude us. This is particularly true of our sexuality. Ephesians 4:17–19 gives a chilling assessment that living for our own sexual desires signifies a “turning away” from God, leading to ever-increasing depravity and sexual insatiability.
Read more at equip.org.
Tuesday, 24 March 2020
An Amazing Story of Forgiveness
A senior beaten and thrown down a flight of stairs before her home was set on fire says her attacker was also her rescuer, and she forgives him.
In an interview with Postmedia from her hospital room on Tuesday, Dora Campbell, 72, says a man assaulted her and her granddaughter at her home near 121 Avenue and 102 Street last Saturday. The attack left her with a broken hip, cuts and bruises on her face, and her home destroyed.
Sunday, 22 March 2020
Can Christians Be Depressed?
"Depression has a long history of being misunderstood, both by the larger culture and, unfortunately, by the church. For many of us, shame and stigma can cause us to keep our struggles with mental health issues hidden from our friends, our church communities, and even from God himself.
In the Bible there are examples of people being discouraged—Elijah, Job, David. Would you say that they were depressed? To summarize, my question is: How can Christians be chronically depressed? Is there a Biblical explanation for this?”
Listen to the podcast at RZIM.org
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